The Dark Sign
by jayb.is.bored
Summary: Everything has been going well after the battle of the Narnians and Telmarines ended until a certain Daughter of Eve mysteriously appears bearing a gruesome and bloody mark on her back that could mean the comeback of the darkest and most feared creature far worse than the White Witch. [AU-ish.]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Let's pretend the Pevensie siblings didn't return to England after the battle in _Prince Caspian._**

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 **DISCLAIMER: I only own the stuffs I created my own.**

Jamie watched as the centaurs presented the human they had found in the woods to Kings Peter and Edmund in the courtyard that morning. Just a moment ago, they were playfully fencing with the talking mouse — Reepicheep, and some Telmarine soldiers before being interrupted by two centaurs and a screaming girl. Jamie had sighed and shook her head the moment she saw this. It had always been easier having found human boys instead. Girls talk and scream a lot. Queens Susan and Lucy were humans themselves but she was pretty sure neither of them had acted like this the moment they found themselves in Narnia.

Not that all Daughters of Eve who had magically come here were all whiny and disrespectful. A few were nice, actually. Mostly the shy ones. Jamie liked them because it seemed funny to her how they could never look at Kings Peter and Edmund's faces whenever these boys talked to them. It wasn't their fault, really. Blame it to the lads for carrying such immeasurable great looks — Peter being blond and Edmund with his jet black hair. It wasn't much of a surprise when some of these humans — whose boring world held no magic — would delude themselves into thinking this was their fairytale at last. And so they'd try to get the kings' attention in all sort of pathetic tactics they could come up with.

Jamie hated most those arrogant girls who would act so tough and challenge Edmund in a sparring match or whatnot which was very stupid considering the king was a great warrior and the best swordsman in all Narnia. And like Edmund would want to waste his time sparring with a lousy opponent. Peter, on the other hand, was too much of a gentleman to ever fight a girl even if it was just for sports. He would most likely let the girl win.

But because Edmund was known for having such a short temper, it made that more than easy for those girls to act like they hated him and talk to him with no manners. The guts, really... They thought that kind of personality would impress Narnians and the hatred between them and the king would grow into romance...

How ridiculous.

 _Just what kind of books do these humans read back in their land?_ Jamie had thought one time. She wasn't sure if they really hated Edmund for real but it was pretty obvious they fancied him. Otherwise, they would pay no attention at all.

But what could these ordinary humans compete with the princesses in other lands, anyway? Princesses who were actually skilled in fighting their whole lives? These princesses themselves had been battling whom the kings of Narnia would fall for and later on marry. But being a princess didn't do a different effect on Peter at all for he treated women all the same — kindly and gently. Edmund, however, treated them in accordance to his mood. He still struggled to hide his hostility sometimes. He hated annoying and mouthy girls, may she be a princess or not. And he certainly hated how his siblings treated every random human to land in Narnia as "guests". Although he was the King of Just, he could be really mean and childish.

And this _one_ was getting into his nerves.

"Bloody hell, will you shut up?!" he shouted as the girl continued to scream and fight so hard to get away from the centaurs holding her arms.

"Language, Ed, " Peter, being the High King, reprimanded in a calm tone.

"Oh, honestly, brother. It matters not now. This one's a beast!"

"I'm no beast!" blurted the girl, her face wet with tears and sweat. "You're the one sending off monsters to kill me!"

Edmund arched his eyebrows at that, then gave the girl a once-over. Her long blonde hair was wild from running and was sticking out in every direction, covering most parts of her face. She was only wearing a nightgown and this thin piece of white material had been torn in places revealing several cuts on her skin all the way down to her bare feet. Well, she was alive so he said, "I see they have failed."

Peter turned to him in disbelief. "Edmund!" Whereas Jamie stifled a laughter.

The blonde girls' eyes grew wide open as her jaw dropped in horror. And just like that, she began screaming and shaking her body off from the centaurs' grip again. This made Peter threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Oh, thanks a lot, Your Majesty!" he said to Edmund in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

But the younger king simply smiled and said, "Anytime, brother. Why don't you hug her? That always works."

Just when Peter thought Edmund couldn't say anything worse, he really had to go and say that. Though the younger lad was right (and true, a lot of girls had calmed down in the High King's embrace), Peter didn't particularly enjoy making that necessary to about every girl who needed comforting. And none of those girls had cried like _this._

When Edmund kept waiting and gave the High King a "Well?" look, Peter rolled his eyes. His younger brother was enjoying this. Not to mention he really loved teasing him "Miracle Hugger the Magnificent" on a good day to ruin his mood. Or on a bad day to worsen it even.

"Please, let me go! I wanna go home! My dad's a billionaire, he could give you all the money you want!"

"He can keep his money. We're kings. We got more treasures than he can count." Most of the time, Edmund didn't know how to empathize.

"Favor, Ed? Don't open your mouth for five minutes," spoke Peter.

Edmund just arched his brows and shrugged his shoulders good-naturedly, while Peter began to step closer towards the girl.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. Calm down. I'm King Pe— _Ow!"_ He just had his hands placed on the girl's shoulders when this very lady kicked him hard on the shin, sending him staggering backwards.

Some of the creatures gasped while Edmund laughed, watching his brother hopping in pain. "Nice, King Pe Ow. So much for being a miracle hugger."

"Now, now! You don't do that to the High King, girlie. That wasn't very nice!" Reepicheep spoke, drawing his little sword out, ready to charge.

"Please, Reepicheep," begged Peter, stretching his hand out to the mouse's direction as a gesture to stop while his other hand clasped on his aching shin. "Don't scare her more than necessary now."

But the girl had already found the mouse. At first, she couldn't speak — which was a short peaceful moment for everyone around, but when she finally found her voice, the birds in the forest flew out.

By that time, Edmund was already covering his ears, looking more annoyed than ever. "By the name of the Lion, are you some kind of banshee?!"

But his voice was drowned out by the girl's screaming which was still going on.

"My God, this girl's unbelievable. Good luck, brother. You can do it." He gave Peter a pat on the back.

"Wha...?" Peter turned and Edmund was already walking away. He grunted. _Ugh, he'd worsen things, anyway._ And so he didn't stop him to stay.

"Let's go, Jim," Edmund said as he passed a red-headed girl and dragged her by the elbow.

The girl scowled and pulled her elbow out as soon as they were away from the crowd. "For the millionth time, it's Jamie!" she exclaimed, sounding annoyed.

"Jim for short," Edmund insisted, grinning down at her. He loved making names for people and teasing them for it. In return, he earned an elbow on the rib. "Ow!" Edmund cried, covering his rib. "Must you be so violent?!"

"Must you be a baby?"

"I'm no baby!"

"Off to hunt the White Stag again, Your Majesties?"

They heard a voice from behind and when they stopped to turn around, they saw a martial mouse much larger than a common one on the ground.

"Yes, Reepicheep. Want to come?" Jamie offered.

"I sure want, Your Highness. I can't stand that girl's weeping." He looked behind to where Queens Susan and Lucy had appeared now to walk the girl inside the castle. She was no longer fighting to get away now that she was in the arms of the queens but she continued to cry hysterically and beg not to be killed.

"How they managed to stop her from fighting, I'm amazed," Edmund was saying, staring ahead at the entrance of the castle.

Jamie's eyes burned onto the girl's back. "None of the others have cried that much," she observed. "Centaurs aren't so scary."

"Nor talking mice!" hooted Reepicheep in an indignant voice.

Edmund tried not to laugh.

They continued to watch the little crowd disappear into the castle before the mouse spoke with a hint of curiosity in his voice. "She said a monster tried to kill her in the woods..."

"Hmm." Jamie had to admit she was a little intrigued. "Weren't they all disposed in the Golden Age?" She turned to Edmund knowing all too well he and his siblings reigned those times. Reepicheep had turned around to look at him, too.

"They were. But weren't Narnians had thought to be extinct just three years ago but showed up to be just actually hiding?"

Jamie stared at him for a few seconds before considering what he said. "True."

"So you're saying there could be monsters from the White Witch still lurking around?" Reepicheep had walked nearer to them now.

"Could be."

"That's crazy," said Jamie. "It's been a hundred years. They ought to be dead by now."

"Some creatures take hundreds of years to die, Milady," Reepicheep informed.

"Oh..." escaped Jamie's mouth, then her expression turned annoyed. "I wish I had that lifespan."

Edmund chuckled. "What she saw could probably be just a minotaur she thought was attacking her when it really meant helping. Minotaurs in our world are monsters." He was saying this being a human himself and having lived in the human world.

Jamie's face suddenly brightened. " _That_ , or there could really be a monster lurking about." She said more like to herself in an air of mystery and adventure that her green eyes dangerously sparkled. "Old or new, it's yet to be found." Then her lips twitched into a smirk as she turned to walk on.

"You're making meanings of the girl's appearance," Edmund called after her. Reepicheep followed. "For what we know, she's just one of those random girls appearing and disappearing all of a sudden. They don't last for a month. They just vanish."

Jamie stopped so suddenly that Edmund almost bumped onto her back. When she turned around to tell him something she just thought, she could've sworn the tips of their noses touched.

"Ow!" Edmund cried once again, backing away and throwing his palm on his cheek.

Jamie blinked and saw her hand was held, slowly realizing she had slapped him.

Edmund's mouth hang open in utter surprise. That was the second time she _hit_ him. And knowing Jamie, she didn't hit like a girl. "For heaven's sake, what was that for?!" he demanded.

 _Was there something wrong with what he said?_

Jamie was wide-eyed. "I don't know." Quickly, she put her hand down and hid it behind her back. "My hand did that by itself," she added quickly.

 _"Why?!"_ Edmund was impatient, massaging his cheek and moving his jaw to check if it still worked. He had had enough of _that_ girl's lunatic wildness and now Jamie was slapping him for reasons only Aslan knew what.

"No idea, it just did."

"What?!"

"You almost kissed, your Majesties," Reepicheep piped in.

Jamie had swept her head quickly to the mouse. Edmund glanced at him, too, palm still on his slapped cheek. Then back to Jamie, he asked. "Is this what's it all about?" His face was incredulous.

"Of course not. Your face shocked me."

"Oh, really. This incredibly handsome face." He pointed at his face with his spare hand.

"Conceited now, are we? You should know it looks scary up close with all those freckles..."

Edmund's lips parted in disbelief. "What in the bloody hell are you talking about? Everybody loves my freckles. _You_ said you envy my freckles. "

"I was just being nice because you're a king."

Edmund just stared at her. He swore they had been friends for two years now but there were times when he couldn't stop himself from thinking of strangling her. After a few seconds, he decided to relax and finally spoke. "Ahh, Jamie. Sometimes I think you have feelings for me."

Now it was Jamie's turn to open her mouth, looking at the handsome young man before her as though he was mental. But then she closed it into a teasing smile and said, "What if I have?"

Edmund had raised his eyebrows at that and not long enough, his face broke into a radiant smile as though he hadn't just been slapped. "Now we're talking." He draped an arm around the girl's shoulders as he made the way towards the stables. "Glad you finally confessed. But don't get too excited just yet. I don't accept your feelings. I'm still not sure whether you're really a girl, see." With this, he received another elbow on the rib. "Exactly what I'm talking about," he yelped. "And two, you really need to fix your anger issues."

"You're one to talk about anger issues," Jamie retorted.

Behind them, Reepicheep was silently laughing. He was used to hearing their playful banter now. Their closeness had people often mistaken they were a couple but whenever someone would point that out, the pair would just laugh so hard to the point of looking improper.

Meanwhile inside the castle, High King Peter and the queens were attending the shaken girl in one of the guest rooms. She was seated on the bed with Queens Susan and Lucy on each of her side. Her lips were quivering and her tears continued to flow but her crying was silent now. She had her arms wrapped around herself, wrists swollen red from the centaurs' grip but more from her nonstop fighting to get away. Peter put a blanket around her upon noticing she was shivering. Well, aside from being scared, she was only wearing a thin material stained with dirt and blood.

"Can you tell us your name?" Lucy asked, smiling.

The girl didn't make eye contact. Her eyes were fixed on the floor and she let her messy blonde hair curtain her face. But she slowly licked her lips and responded in a low, quiet voice. "Ranien."

"Where are you from, Ranien?" Susan asked, gently tucking the girl's hair behind her ear.

"California."

"Can you tell us how you got here?" added Peter, kneeling down in front of her to look at her face.

"I..." Ranien began, then fear took over her face at once, having recalled something very, very... unpleasant. Taking an unsteady breath, she managed to croak, "I was running into the woods and..." Another breath. "...something..." Gulp. "...attacked me." Her face twisted in pain as another tear roll down her cheek. She removed the blanket around her to show them her back. Her nightgown wasn't severely torn in that area and only held a little blood but strangely enough, remarkable little holes surrounded the cloth. When Peter slowly reached it with his hands to tear it apart, series of gasps filled the room upon seeing what lied underneath it.

"What..." Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Susan had thrown her hand to her mouth. Peter froze with his mouth agape. The two badgers inside the room reacted the same. And the color on the centaurs' faces faded.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I only own the stuffs I created my own.**

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Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Susan had thrown her hand to her mouth. Peter froze with his mouth agape. The two badgers inside the room reacted the same. And the color on the centaurs' faces faded. For what was on the girl's back was...

A big, hideous, greenish and purple bruise surrounded with protruding thick veins that seemed to be throbbing undernearth the skin. Lucy swore they were moving that she feared they were going to explode. What's worse was, it was outlined with protruding little holes that formed a circle and in the middle of it was the biggest of them all, like a tiny low volcano breathing blood and thick yellow liquid. The little holes that encircled it were starting to exhale bubbling blood on its surface.

Lucy's eyes were wide in shock. She hadn't seen anything so gruesome as this before. Nor did anyone in the room. And she felt horrified and sorry for the girl and scared and... terrified how much it must had hurt.

Peter felt worse. They had given Ranien a really hard time down in the courtyard when she happened to be severely injured. Add up Edmund's downright rudeness.

The king and queens all looked at each other, as though silently asking one another if they recognized this kind of bite. Or whatever that was. When none of them seemed to know, they looked back at the horrible wound.

" _What_ did that?" Lucy choked, almost in tears. Then she turned to the centaurs who brought the girl to the castle. "Did you see...?"

The centaurs, who had seem to lost their voices, barely shook their heads.

"They said they just found her unconscious on the ground," Peter explained, having told by the centaurs what happened when they were in the courtyard. "When they tried to carry her to bring her here, she awoke and started screaming and running."

Lucy cried in sympathy. "Oh! What kind of monster would do this?" Then she remembered she had a healing cordial she always kept on her belt, a little bottle given by the Father of Christmas when they first came here in Narnia holding a magical liquid that could heal any injury. She began fumbling for it but before she could even take the bottle out, one of the centaurs had let out a loud "No!"

Everybody's head swung to look where the voice came from.

"Your Majesty." The centaur bowed, redeeming himself. "I politely suggest to have Glenstorm see that before you cure it. He might have a say on that."

Susan looked at Lucy worriedly. "He's right."

"But what if she can't hold it for long?"

"Then that's the time you give her a drop. How are you feeling, Ranien? How much does it hurt?" asked Susan.

Ranien shook her head. And her quiet reply confused almost everyone. "That's the thing. It doesn't hurt at all."

There was a long moment of silence before Susan broke it with a quiet "What?" whereas the other centaur looked alarmed. "That's not good. That's more dangerous. She could die any second without a warning. I'll go find Glenstorm now." Then he headed out.

But Lucy was scared of the thought of the girl dying in a snap and demanded to heal her this instant.

"Lucy, we have to know the thing that did this so we'll know how to stop it before it gets more victims. She'll get a drop right after we figure this out," Peter told her.

Although Peter was right, Lucy still didn't like the idea of having to wait for answers before she could heal the girl. But since she was completely outnumbered, there was no point arguing in that matter.

"Mr. Trufflehunter, kindly bring Mr. Trumpkin here, please," Susan addressed to one of the badgers.

"Yes, your Majesty." The badger bowed and got out of the room.

"Mr. Cornellius might know what this is, too," Peter said, studying the girl's back. He turned to the single centaur left. "If you please, go to Caspian's castle and inform the doctor about this. Tell him it's urgent and his presence is needed."

The centaur obeyed.

"Can I see?" Ranien asked a minute or two later, her voice hoarse from her screamings.

The siblings all looked at each other, worried how she might react if she'd see what lied on her back. When they asked her if she was sure, she nodded and Peter got up to find a mirror. He faced the mirror on the girl's back and Ranien twisted around to see. She then let out a short cry of horror and turned away so quickly, closing her eyes shut. Peter closed the ripped area of her nightgown to cover the wound back and so the girl could sit properly again.

"I'm sorry this happened to you," Susan sincerely said, stroking the girl's hair with her fingers.

"Did you happen to see what did that?" asked Peter as gently as he could.

Ranien was staring at the floor again. "It was dark and... _it_ was ugly. I didn't properly see it but it was wearing a hood and its mouth had...slits around it and when _it_ opened it, it stretched out so wide like the lips were made of tentacles... Only worse. I don't know." She buried her hands on her face and cried again.

The siblings just looked at each other, unable to say anything.

When nobody spoke, Ranien slid her hands all the way up to her head in frustration, clearing her face with all the hair that covered it. Confused, scared and desperate, she finally asked what she really needed to know in the first place. "Look, why am I here?" Her voice was commanding and no longer quiet, looking at everyone with blue watery eyes hungry for answers.

But the moment they all saw the face behind the blonde hair, they could've sworn _this_ shocked them more than the gruesome bite she carried.

"Oh my God," Susan breathed.

Peter drew his head back, staring at the girl's face in utter disbelief. "Impossible..." he muttered.

That was when the doors flew open revealing Trufflehunter with Trumpkin now.

"Your Majesties. I believe I was —" The dwarf stopped dead at his tracks upon seeing the girl. Then his eyebrows furrowed, confused. He stared intently at the girl with narrowed eyes and was about to say something when Peter beat him to it.

"Get Princess Jamie here. Quick." The king's voice was urgent and Trufflehunter with the other badger immediately moved.

* * *

"Supposing we caught the White Stag, what would you wish, Reep?" Jamie asked the mouse mounted on her brown horse in front of her. They were in the forest with Edmund on his own horse which was now moving in a slow pace along with Jamie's. It was believed that if you caught the stag, it would give you wishes and many times it had been gone for hundreds of years and fled to farther places but now it had come back to Western Woods at last. They sighted it today, actually, but lost it right after they galloped to catch it.

"There's nothing more that I want, Your Highness, but to see Aslan's country," the mouse replied with a heaved chest upon talking about the High King of all Kings.

The princess' green eyes sparkled with interest. "That's a really good wish. I never thought of that... Now you have me thinking." Her face was thoughtful. "How about you, Ed?" She whipped her head to the side to look at Edmund.

The king just smiled cheekily. "I have dark wishes. You wouldn't wanna know a single of it."

Jamie just rolled her eyes. "Right."

Jamie Lu Montague was Calormen's princess who had been frequently visiting Narnia to fool her parents she was working on making either one of the kings fall for her. At first, she found it completely rubbish with all these princesses competing whom the kings would marry but after knowing Narnia had become the richest country in just a year after taking the land back from the Telmarines, not to mention the kings that ruled it were beyond handsome, it easily all made sense to her. And she was aware she was bound to marry by arrangement one day but she never thought her parents would actually want her to go after these kings and make them fall in love with her because apparently, Narnia wasn't in a desperate need for more lands and treasures to arrange a marriage with a royalty from another country so the only way to have their kings actually marry somebody was to have them fall in love. It was reasonable but ridiculous, considering Calormen was a rich country itself and could stand alone without any help. But Jaime's parents starved for more wealth.

Now, imagining Peter falling in love wasn't that hard, but Edmund... She wasn't sure if the scumbag was capable of falling in love at all. And anyway, she had been friends with them for so long now that the idea of having them fall in love with her had turned out hilarious.

The memory of the first time she met them, though, still painted a smile on her face. It was two years ago when these young kings set sail to Calormen in search for the seven lords in Telmar. Of course, since Narnia wasn't yet the richest then, her parents had no interest in the kings whatsoever. However, the moment she saw fauns, centaurs, minotaurs, and talking animals (especially Reepicheep which she instantly liked), she immediately died to go to Narnia that she sneaked her way through their ship. Edmund wasn't so happy when she saw her hiding in his cabin. Peter didn't approve of it either but he was nice to her and offered her food. The annoyance on Edmund's face, though, when Peter said they had to turn back and return her to Calormen before their King and Queen would notice her disappearance and accuse them for kidnapping, was priceless. The Just King had strongly suggested to throw her to the sea so she could swim her way back home but nobody agreed.

A year later, Narnia's wealth impressively boomed. Poverty rate dramatically decreased. Everything was going well that when Cair Paravel's reconstruction was finally done, Queens Susan and Lucy were so happy that they decided to have a celebration ball and invited different kingdoms to attend it. And the Pevensies' fame highly increased.

When it was time for the Calormenes to return home, Jamie, once again, sneaked. But this time, _out_ of their ship and into the village. She had fallen in love with Narnia straight-up. It was like living in her own fantasy. She had always dreamt of this — magical land and talking animals — ever since she was a kid and never in her wildest dreams had she thought it could all be possible. It was just too good to be true. If she had to abandon Calormen forever to live in Narnia, she would. She never liked it there, anyway. She never had freedom and was tired living under her parents' rules. But a day later, her parents had come back to inquire for her whereabouts. Nobody in the castle saw her since the royal ship of Calormen had left but her disappearance didn't surprise Kings Peter and Edmund having witnessed she had done almost the same thing before. They made a search party, though, and was successful enough to find her. Of course, her parents were worried so much and scolded her for what she had done. But she manipulated them into thinking she wanted to stay and make either of the kings fall in love with her so a marriage would be done after. It was a stupid thing to say but she was almost desperate at that time. She was already expecting to be scolded for such lunacy but to her surprise, the queen did no such and instead, widened her eyes as though she had just heard the smartest idea in the world ever. Her mother thought it was brilliant but argued she should've told them about it before pulling a stunt of sneaking out and having them all freaked out. Jamie was overwhelmed. She couldn't believe her parents were actually being supportive about this. All her life, they'd been trying to teach her how to be a proper lady and she saw nothing proper about deceiving men and going after them. She decided not to pay much mind about it, though. The important thing was, she'd get to stay in Narnia.

Queen Lucy was more than happy to have Jamie as a guest. Everybody was so glad she loved Narnia and they all welcomed her warmly. Edmund, however, didn't care much. Not until he noticed Jamie had had been staying there for almost two months.

 _"Aren't you going home or something?" he had asked with his eyebrows furrowed one time during breakfast._

 _Susan threw him a reprimanding look. "Edmund!"_

 _Though Edmund's bluntness had surprised everyone at the table, what he said had them all thinking the same until they were all looking at the princess for an answer._

 _"Err..." The atmosphere had gone uncomfortable for Jamie, mind racking for excuses she could tell them. There was a long moment of silence as everybody started to look at one another, wondering why she seemed to have trouble speaking up. But then she dropped her spoon and fork on her plate and took a deep sigh. "Alright, I gotta be honest." And she told them everything._

 _"...trust me, I don't wanna marry either of you. I just really wanna be here in Narnia," she finished after five minutes of explaining._

 _She looked at everybody. They were all silent for a minute as they continued to look at her, too. Then the silence was interrupted by a laugh. Edmund's laugh._

 _Followed by Peter. And soon the rest in the room was laughing altogether while she just sat there thinking they were all nuts._

 _"Make us fall in love..." Edmund was shaking his head, still laughing. "That is so ambitious and girly."_

 _"I know," she agreed_.

Either way, she was glad they took her situation hilarious for they never minded now how long she stayed in Narnia. And how she and Edmund became friends, she didn't know. One time, they were just insulting each other and next, Edmund was coming along with her to Calormen and was staying there as a guest for a week. Of course, this had everybody thinking she got the younger king and when her parents asked her about it, she just simply said, "We're still friends at the moment. He likes me but still in denial about it." She'd get the same questions everytime she'd come back home but she made sure to make up some improvements in her relationship with Edmund each time she had to feed them an update. She'd already told them, "He confessed." "He kissed me." "He's frustrated with his feelings" and "He's overly jealous now." Of course, none of those were true but she had to keep her parents thinking she was doing her job well. Sometimes, they'd complain about how this whole thing was going on too slow but Jamie would just tell them, "Love takes time. And don't worry, he's already in love with me. He's just still shy to propose yet." In fact, the next time she'd go home, she would tell them Edmund had gone obsessed with her now. The thought made her laugh, forgetting Edmund was just four feet away from her.

"What are you laughing about?" the young king asked, bringing her back to reality.

Jamie stopped for a moment but when she looked at him, she only continued laughing, trying to imagine him being obsessed with her. "Nothing. Just _thought_ of something funny."

Edmund wore a blank face though he was worried about her sanity. "You are forever strange." Then looked away, shaking his head.

"Speaking of _thoughts!"_ Jamie suddenly exclaimed. "I completely forgot to tell you. Didn't it ever occur to you how all the girls that had come here are all blondes?" This was the question she was going to ask him when she had abruptly turned around causing their noses to touch. Of course, because of that, the whole question was wiped out of her head.

"'Course it did. The others and I talked about it," Edmund simply replied.

"Well? What do you reckon it means?"

"Pure coincidence or..." He thought for a moment. "We don't really know. See, every human that magically lands in Narnia has a purpose, we believe. Like we, for example. You all know we got here because of the prophecy. Those girls, however, seemed...err, useless, so maybe there was some kind of mistake and Narnia realized that so they take them back home."

"You can't be saying Narnia has been making the same mistakes four times now in two years," said Jamie. "All blonde, Ed. And they don't last for a month. Like you said, they just vanish. Isn't that all suspicious?"

"It sure is, Milady," Reepicheep suddenly agreed, sounding thoughtful. "Maybe they're summoned here by some evil force as a sacrifice."

"That's actually possible," Edmund said. "Maybe by _that_ monster the girl was saying that attacked her. Maybe it's into blondes!" He and Reepicheep laughed.

But Jamie wasn't amused. When Edmund noticed this, he said, "Look, everything's fine in Narnia. As long as my siblings and I are here. Nobody really knows what happened to those girls but that didn't really affect the condition in this place so we think their appearance and vanishing is just a random phase."

"Yeah. Cos four blondes in a row is random," Jamie pointed out.

Edmund was about to say more when they heard a noise from behind. They stopped and saw two badgers running towards them.

"Your Majesty," one of them, whose name was Iskuposh, breathed and bowed to Jamie. "You're summoned by the High King."

By the looks on their faces, their news seemed urgent that the two majesties had creased their eyebrows and looked at each other wondering what was going on.

Then Trufflehunter added, "It's the girl."

* * *

"Why? What's with the girl? And what does it have to do with me?" Jamie demanded as they quickly walked the hall towards the guest room where the girl was in.

"You have to see it for yourself, Your Highness," Iskopush said, trailing behind her and Edmund.

As soon as they reached the room, she pushed the door open and everybody inside had stopped what they were doing to look her. She scanned the place. King Peter, Trumpkin, two centaurs, Queens Susan and Lucy seated on each side of...

 _No way._

She wasn't sure if her eyes were deceiving her but, apart from the hair and the color of the eyes, the girl seated in between the queens...

Looked exactly just like her.


End file.
